Vladimír Šlechta

Life

Šlechta was born in Liberec in 1960, but most of his life he spent in the South Bohemian Region, in České Budějovice or its surroundings. In 1967, his father joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia but one year later he opposed the party line, so his membership was terminated. He was also removed from his teaching post at a university, and he couldn’t find another job.

Vladimír Šlechta couldn't study a secondary school in České Budějovice, that’s why he studied in Trhové Sviny. He then went to study at the Czech Technical University in Prague's Faculty of Civil Engineering. After that, he was employed in design departments of various water management institutions. He worked three years as clerk for firemen, and a few years as a project and investment manager. Since 1999 he has been self-employed, designing water supply and sanitation.

Since 1984 has been married and he has two grown-up sons.

Author

In 1993 Vladimír Šlechta published his first short story‚Legendary Weapon in the magazine Ikarie. In 1999, his two novels were published: Project Bersekr and Sharp Echoes. By 2007, about 15 thousand copies of his books were sold, making him one of the best-selling Czech authors of fantasy and sci-fi. Twice he received The Academy Prize for Science Fiction and Sci-fi in the Best Published Short Story category. At present, he is the author of nine books, in which he combines adventurous science-fiction and fantasy elements.